Reality-TV Star Uses Coronavirus Loan For Jewelry, Car: Feds

DACULA, GA — A reality-TV star and Dacula resident was arrested and charged with bank fraud for using a coronavirus small-business loan to buy jewelry, lease a Rolls-Royce and pay child support, according to federal officials.

Maurice Fayne, 37, who appeared last season in VH-1’s Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta, applied in April for a $3.725 million loan for his company Flame Trucking. CNN reports that the funds requested were to be used to “retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments, as specified under the Paycheck Protection Program Rule,” according to a federal affidavit.

In his application, Fayne — who goes by the stage name Arkansas Mo — said that Flame had 107 employees and an average monthly payroll of nearly $1.5 million. United Community Bank ultimately funded the loan for a little more than $2 million.

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Fayne then used more than $1.5 million of that money to buy $85,000 worth of jewelry, including a Rolex watch, a diamond bracelet and a diamond ring for himself, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

Fayne also leased a 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith and paid $40,000 in child support, according to the release.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that authorities searched Fayne’s Dacula home Monday and seized about $80,000 in cash, including $9,400 he had in his pockets at the time, according to authorities. Warrants also were executed for three of his bank accounts, where more than $500,000 was seized.

CNN reports that Fayne had previously denied to federal agents that he used the funds for himself, answering "kinda, sorta, not really" when asked about it, according to the affidavit.

"At a time when small businesses are struggling for survival, we cannot tolerate anyone driven by personal greed, who misdirects federal emergency assistance earmarked for keeping businesses afloat," said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, in a statement.

Fayne’s attorney told CNN that there was “considerable confusion” over how PPP funds could be used by business owners to pay themselves as well as their employees. “I hope these issues to be better fleshed out in the weeks and months to come," attorney Tanya Miller said in a statement sent to CNN.

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